Additional Information

The DBSP's Accreditation In South Africa

The DBSP has been accredited by the Department of Labour for use nationally.

We are currently reviving our accreditation with the Services Seta, under Hi-Eye-Q Training. Our first accreditation had the following SETQAA decision number: 0877. We are also in the process of registering our MBS Program as a full New Venture Creation qualification at an NQF level 4.

Additionally, work in developing the Train-the-Trainer programme and Trainer assessment tools have been done under the guidance of the Human Resource Development Department of Johannesburg University. (Previously Rand Afrikaans University)

The DBSP's Perspective On Rural Development & Lessons We Have Learnt

Our perspective on rural development has not changed much over the years, and our determination to make an even bigger impact in rural areas has grown stronger, especially where there is a measure of vulnerability - such as where HIV/AIDS is devastating a community and where there is a high concentration of orphans, for whatever reason. Along with our partner organisations, we are also busy developing initiatives to attract money into some of the economically depressed rural areas in which we work. As these are still in the planning stage, it is too premature to talk about them as yet.

We are also embarking on an 'export' drive, to share information, experiences and successes with other rural communities, as and when we have successes with a certain community - Bergville, in the Province of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa is an example of such a community, from which very valuable lessons can and are being exported.

One of the greatest challenges facing rural development work in South Africa is the economic upliftment of the rural communities themselves. In the past - definitely during the apartheid era -, economic upliftment of rural areas was not an issue, and was therefore completely ignored. Hence, now the Country has a huge problem; how to empower rural communities economically. For development work within a community to be sustainable and successful, it has to address poverty and the alleviation of poverty. It is pretty near useless teaching people skills, if they cannot use some of these skills to generate an income for themselves. If people remain poor, and cannot see any way of being able to make any money, then a whole host of social problems emerge, such as drunkenness, deviant sexual behaviour, child and women abuse and crime, to mention a few. Then, of course, due to some of these behaviours, there is the spread of HIV/AIDS. A secondary factor is low self esteem and the feeling of being totally worthless. Desperation often sets in and some people move to the urban areas in search of money, compounding the problems in the urban environment. Often these misplaced people are forced into crime, end up sleeping around, contract HIV/ AIDS, then spread these 'diseases' back into their rural communities when they return home for a visit. Hence any attempt to uplift people socially without helping them to address their most basic need, a way for them to generate income for themselves, is at best very short term.

We view economic upliftment of rural communities as very high on the agenda of rural development work. The best way of spawning economic upliftment within rural communities is the encouragement of a vibrant and strong small business sector. For this to be done successfully, practical business start up training is a prerequisite. We feel, therefore, that the DBSP and is interventions play an extremely important and growing role in helping develop the rural communities in which we work. Any community development work needs to be a combined, integrated, systematic, well planned effort by a dedicated team of service providers, working hand in hand with each other to help develop people of the community. To this end, the DBSP is committed and seeks out strategic partnerships with other organisations who are, or will be helping community members uplift and empower themselves.

We have learnt a lot in the twelve or so years that we have been involved in rural communities. The following points sum up our learning :

For economic upliftment to be done properly, so that results are clearly visible and measurable, and so that there is long term sustainability and impact in the community, DBSP interventions need to be run in the same community on a regular basis each year, for at least 5 years.

There needs to be a strong partnering relationship between like minded organisations in a rural community. The DBSP cannot fulfil all the functions in helping a community to develop and it is a fallacy to think that business start up training is the only thing that is needed. A strong strategic partnership between various stakeholders is necessary. This includes amongst others health, nutrition, skills, life skills, HIV / AIDS education & care and Donor Funding Organisations. This is why we seek out strong partners within each and every community in which we work.

We have discovered that the stronger the partnership between ourselves and the community based organisation with which we work, the more we can impact the community as a whole. The converse of this is equally and most definitely true. Although we have been very successful in working in communities without working with a strategic partner organisation, and the learners start businesses that sustain, it is preferable to have an integrated approach.

Each community needs its own business service centre / office, where people can come for advice, counselling and further training. There needs to be experienced people who can help the new entrepreneurs overcome problems and to develop and expand their businesses. For this reason, we train up a Trainer / Facilitator, or at the very least, a Follow Up Agent for each of the communities in which we work. We have also found that failure to do so severely weakens any impact we have in a community, thereby reducing the longer term impact of our work within that community.

There is a much stronger desire and motivation amongst the women and young people in rural communities to be empowered economically - this is why most of our success stories to date are of rural women who are running successful business ventures.

Management Structure Of The DBSP Organisation

We have a philosophy in the organisation which says that if you are not a practising entrepreneur, you have no right to teach another person to start up and run a business of their own. With this philosophy in mind, it must be said that the organisation does not have a payroll as such, and no permanent employees. We do however have a management team, a team of Trainer/Facilitators and a team of Follow Up Agents / Business Counsellors. All the staff are employed on a contract by contract basis, with a contract consisting of one training programme and the necessary follow-up work that goes along with the training. Hence the organisation's overheads are kept to an absolute minimum. The Trainer/ Facilitators thus run the programmes through their own businesses, being paid on the basis of learners recruited, programmes conducted and follow up work carried out. This model is consistent with the business philosophy of the programme itself and ensures commitment, efficiency and productivity. The structure of the DBSP is as follows:

The management team in South Africa

The management team is broken up into two sections; the Head Office staff, and the Executive Area Managers. The head office staff consists of 3 people, namely the National Project Manager / Chief Executive Officer, the Administrator and one Data Capture person / Personal Assistant. There are two Executive Area Managers who were responsible for the Trainer/Facilitators and Follow Up Agents around South Africa. Each Area Manager has a number of Provinces that he/she exercises management over. All of the Trainer/Facilitators and/or Follow Up Agents in these select Provinces fall under one specific Executive Area Manager.

The management team is responsible for both the day-to-day running of the DBSP, as well as planning and managing the rolling out the training programmes and the follow-up work. The management team meets on a regular basis in order to make decisions on the running of DBSP in South Africa.

The Trainer / Facilitators

As stated above, each Executive Area Manager has a number of Trainer/Facilitators that report to him/her. These Trainer/Facilitators are generally based in the communities in which we work, and from whence they come. Each Trainer/Facilitator is contracted for and paid on a project by project basis, a project consisting of one DBSP training programme and follow up work. The Trainer/Facilitators function is to recruit and select learners for a DBSP training programme, to train, run and facilitate the programme, to keep records of the training, both financial as well as statistical and to follow up all the programme graduates for a minimum of a 12 month period, once the one-month long training programme has been completed.

The Follow Up Agents / Business Counsellors

In most cases an area also has a Follow Up Agent / Business Counsellor that works along with the Trainer/ Facilitator in the area. Their function is to ensure that each and every person that is trained by the DBSP in that community/area is followed up. This means that the Trainer/Facilitators, or Follow Up Agent needs to physically go and visit each one of the businesses that the learners have started. There are a minimum of five follow-up visits per learner that are conducted in the 12 month period following the training programme that is run. Another responsibility of the Follow Up Agent is to assist the learner in whatever way is necessary in order for them to grow their business. As well as this, information is collected from each learner at each follow-up visit and this information is sent through to the DBSP's head office so that it can be captured onto a data base.

Some Of The More Unusual Businesses Learners Have Started

Learners are dissuaded from getting into overtraded businesses, but if this is their only opportunity, then they are helped to approach the running of these businesses in innovative ways. Encouragement is given to new innovative business ideas.

Examples of some of the more unusual businesses started are:

Organisations That Have Been Associated With The DBSP In South Africa

The following organisations have supported the project financially, or have been involved in some way:

Some Feedback The DBSP Has Obtained

"I am happy to recommend the DBSP to any organisation or individual as an innovative and valuable business development programme." - The Director of the Centre for Developing Business of the Faculty of Management at the Wits University.

" It has become generally accepted that a major response to the country's high rate of unemployment is to facilitate self-employment. The DBSP has developed a method of achieving this which is both practical and realistic and is showing measurably positive results. In addition, the DBSP is itself a job creator, since it enables its trainers to set themselves up in their own business, providing training within the communities where they live. I would, therefore, regard Barlow's seed-funding as well invested" - Charles Lipp, retired director, Barlows Foundation.

"The balance between field work and classroom learning is a particularly pleasing feature of this programme. As soon as an area of knowledge has been mastered, it is immediately applied in the field. This reinforces learning, as well as ensuring practical benefit to the learner from the input. Although learners are able, and encouraged, to begin their own businesses within a matter of weeks, they are not left on their own to sink or swim. Good aftercare ensures that initial learning is reinforced again and again, and the practical consequences of actions and business decisions thoroughly understood. The careful selection of learners ensures that the business 'flair' which can only be nurtured, not taught, is identified and enabled to grow in practical situations. The meticulous record-keeping in this programme is most helpful, as it allows an honest reflection of drop-out rate, and business survival. The cost per learner should not be equated with cost per job created, as some learners will go on to create further jobs for others." - Dr Gillian Godsell.

" We found the Train-the-Trainer programme to be theoretically sound, the design highly effective and the assessment of competence in line with national thinking" - Human Resource Development Department, Johannesburg University.

"The business that I was running failed, now I know why and will start it up again" - A graduate learner from Newcastle, KZN.

" I learnt more than I ever hoped to learn. This course was fantastic. Now I know that I will run a successful business" - A learner from Bergville, KZN.

" I'm so grateful that I have had this opportunity. Now I can work for myself and make a success out of it" - A graduate learner from Daveyton, Gauteng.

" This programme and especially the Train-the-Trainer programme has changed my life. Now I am doing just what I want to do with my life, and that is to help others succeed" - Trainer trained for Stanza Bopape.

"I was retrenched, I went home and was just waiting to die. Now I have a business that provides more than R12,000 a month and I am happy" – Learner from Newcastle - KZN

Conclusion

Each Programme is community-based and employs a unique methodology and follow-up system, resulting in an above average start-up rate of new businesses. The economic development of all communities, especially marginalised ones in all parts of the world - critical to our economic and social survival - can be encouraged at a low cost per job created.

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